James p



J. P. MEREDITH &'J.. s.- LYON.

Railway-Switch,

60. Pater fled Feb, 10, 1880.

INYENTOR I W ATTORNEYS.

N- PETERS, FHQIO-LITHOGRAPNER. WASMINGION. D C,

UNITED STA E P ATENT OFFICE.

r RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming. part of Letters Patent No. 224,460,

Application filedJune 19,1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES P. ME E ITH,

and JOHN S. LYON, of Augusta, in thecounty of Richmond and State of Georgia, have invented a new and Improved Railway Safety-- Switch; and we dohereby declare'that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through the line 00 w of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is aplanview.

Our invention relates to an improved railway safety-switch, in which the continuity of the main line is not broken and the use of frogs is dispensed with.

The invention consists in the novel arrangement of jointed leading-tongues, a lap-rail section for crossing the main track, and movable guard-rails, all connected so as to be operated at will, or by the wheels of the locomotive in passing over the track, as hereinafter fully described.- 1 w In the drawings, A A represent the main track and B B the siding or switch. 0 O are leading-tongues, jointed upon vertical pivots at the ends of the switch-rails at the point where they approach the main rails, and, tapered at their other ends upon one side, so as to lie close to the main rails.

as to have a parallel motion, and are connected by a pitrnan, D, to the crank 12 of a horizontal shaft, E, arranged in hearings on the crossties parallel with the main track. These movable tongues are also connected with the lower end of a disk-bearing lever, F, which does not form any part of theswitch proper, but only serves by its position'to indicate to the engineer the adjustment of the switch. The main rails A A at the siding are made of less height than the said siding or switch rails,'and in securing a connection between the two sections of the inner siding-rail amovable section, G, is provided, which is pivoted at the These tongues are loosely connected by join-ted bars a a, so

dated February 10, 1880.

ing a pivotal connection with said section, and

connecting the same with a crank, b, of the horizontal operating-shaft E. Now, by rocks ing the said "shaft E it will be seen that the leading-tongues are thrown against the main rails to lead the trains off to the siding, and the lap-section G is made to connect the sections of the inner switch-rail betweenthe main rails with the section'of said switch-rail outside of the main rails.

To render the switch a safety-switch and automatic in its operation, we locate beside the main rails two bent sections, H H, which are pivoted at d, and at their other ends are counected by a cross-bar, I, and pitman I with a crank, 12 on the horizontal shaft E.

Beside the outer switch-rail, at a point opposite the lap-section, we also place a similar railsection, J, which is pivoted at c, and at its other end is connected by a bar, K, with'the same pitman, H, which operates the lap-section Gr. Now, if the train be running on the main track in the direction of the arrow, and the main rails are obstructed by the wrong adjustment of the switch, as shown, the flange'of one wheel and theouter'edge of the tread of the other wheel strike the bent and pivoted sections H H and thrust them to one side. This movement of the sections H, operating, through the pitman I and crank'of the horizontal shaft E,rocks the latter, and, through crank b and pitman H, throws the lap-section G. oft of the main rail, and also, through the crank b and pitman D, throws the leadingtongues -G away from the main track, thus leaving the latter clear for the passsage of the train; On the other hand, if the train be on the sidingand be moving in the same direction, and the sidingbethrown out of commuo nication with the main track, as shown in dotted lines, the flange of the wheel strikes the section J, and in thrusting it aside forces, through baruK, the lap-section G across the ,main rail to connect'the siding-rail sections, 5 and also, acting through pitman H, crank b,

shaft E, crank I), and pitman D, throws the leading-tongues against the side of the main rails, and thus gives free passage to the train.

To hold the parts of the switch to their adjustment an arm, L, is connected with the rock-shaft, and is provided with a heavilyweighted ball, L, which, in gravitating, holds the parts to their places.

When this arrangement of switch is provided at each end of a siding it will be seen that, no matter which direction the train be running in, it never permits a section of track to be left open, so as to involve the liability of the trains leaving the track.

In making use of the sections H H two are not absolutely necessary, and one of then], therefore, maybe dispensed with.

We are aware of the fact that a shaft, E, has been used in connection with leading tongues O and the movable rails H, as shown in the Patent No. 167,743, and that a lap-section, G,

nected for simultaneous action. We do not know, however, that they have ever been combined so as to operate automatically through the agency of the, rails H and J; hence What we claim is- The combination, with the main rails A A and siding B B, having the leading-tongues O O and lap-section G, of a horizontal rock-shaft, E, connected with said tongues and lap-section by cranks and pitman, together with the pivoted guard-rails H J, arranged beside the main rails and siding, as shown, and connected also by pitmen and cranks to the rock-shaft, for conjoint operation, as described.

JAMES P. MEREDITH. Y J OHN S. LYON.

Witnesses:

W. A. RIDGE, AUGUSTUS D. PICQUET. 

